


Humans Need Water

by VotumStellarum



Series: The Only Five Humans [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anal Sex, Banter, Comfort, Communication, Dirty Talk, Dirty vs Clean, Emotional Intimacy, Experimentation, First Time, Insecurity, Love Confessions, M/M, Oral Sex, Resolved Sexual Tension, Vulnerability, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-07 04:30:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11051355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VotumStellarum/pseuds/VotumStellarum
Summary: Continued directly fromHumans Are Ridiculous, during which Lance showed up in the hangar to meet Keith after a rough battle.  Now the two of them are locked in the cockpit of the Red Lion, who isn't responding to either of them at the moment.// Keith prefers to use actions rather than words, but by this point there are a few words that Lance definitely needs to hear. Lance might have also misunderstood a few words that got Keith worked up, so now he should definitely pay attention to Keith's actions.





	Humans Need Water

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Please note the rating: things between Keith and Lance are going to get dirtier before they get cleaner.  
> 2\. I'm so very grateful for everyone who's sharing feedback during this series-- Thank you!

“Keith… I really don't want to talk about it.”

Lance sat sideways across the command chair, shifting slightly as he continued, “Compared to everything the team went through on the operation today, it just feels really petty for me to bring it up now.”

“But you’re not bringing it up, I am.”

Keeping a calm tone, Keith watched from where he sat on the floor, “...and look, I know I don't always catch your jokes right away or notice when you're pissed off... but that means if even I can tell you're upset, it's not petty. Tell me what you've been thinking about.”

Lance let his eyes trace over the red trim on the plated armor across from him but avoided eye contact, stalling.

“Well, I’m trying NOT to think about it but I get the feeling that now… you regret hooking up with me that night.”

“Wh--? Why do you think that?!”

“Because ever since the night you called me ‘captain’, I’ve had hearts and stars floating around my head, but you…” Lance consciously lowered his voice, “...You’ve been acting like nothing happened. ...Especially in front of everyone else, you just seem indifferent to me.”

“ _Indifferent?_ ”

Keith sat forward, propping his elbows on his knees, his expression, puzzled, but still neutral as he estimated how often he thought about Lance over the past few days. There were SO many instances, how could Lance think he was indifferent?

Then he remembered how many of those thoughts were too sensual to say in front of the others, or sugary enough that he decided to keep them to himself and act ‘business as usual’. Keith let out a quiet sigh when he noticed his own pattern.

“Lance, I thought it was really obvious, but… I’ll try again.”

Quietly, Lance focused his gaze on his own fingertips keeping the blurry shape of Keith just in his peripheral vision. “...Try what?”

“I’ll try to explain what I'm thinking. I don't know if there's one simple word to sum up what’s on my mind, but I'm completely sure ‘indifferent’ is not it.” Keith crossed his legs under him to sit up a little straighter and took a deep breath in before he began.

“Alright, yeah, in front of the team I don’t really… Well, I just try to avoid making things uncomfortable for the others while we’re all stuck out here. But honestly you've been on my mind for a long time already and we b--”

“How long is ‘a long time’?” Lance interrupted sharply. “Since when?”

“...... it doesn't really matter now, but long enough that I--”

"It matters to me. Are you saying you first noticed me three weeks ago? Six months ago??” Lance let his voice soften before he continued.

“I mean, when you say ‘a long time’ it makes me think of second year practical flight midterms. Remember when you got into a shouting match with Dr. Duncan and she tried to fail you, but you still aced the exam with a flawless score? At first I was so jealous, but you totally earned it. You were powerful and agile under pressure without even trying and…”

Keith watched closely and Lance paused when he noticed that smile turn rather smug. Lance was suddenly a little self-conscious about this unplanned admission, but he finished it anyway.

“...Well, I had a hard time looking away from you after that. So like, almost three years ago now? I’d say THAT counts as ‘a long time’.”

“Heh, I _do_ remember that, which means...” Keith leaned back onto his palms, on the floor to either side of him. “...maybe I first noticed you just a little before.”

“Before WHAT?” came the incredulous shot back.

“Before exams, since I’m pretty sure it was first term that year when your group always took the field for physical training after mine, right? A handful of pilots at the front were always trying to beat each other to get on the leaderboard, and the techs would heckle whoever was trailing. I saw you and Hunk always take that course at the back, ignoring the hecklers.”

Lance protested, but much more quietly, “You-- you _did not_ notice me back then.”

“You were in really good shape compared to the vocational pilots and I remember thinking you could have competed for the leaderboard, but you were just lazy.”

Lance moved as if to speak again, but he stayed quiet. His slippers dropped to the floor, he glanced to his own toes, and Keith continued.

“...Then I saw you smile even when you weren’t winning. It was weird at first, like, when others were trying to wear you down, it seemed like you could just turn on this confidence like you didn't need validation from them. Plus you were always there for Hunk and you were, I don't know, magnetic… ...wasn’t easy for me to look away either.”

“W-well… whatever, that could've been any PT day. The jocks in our class were rude to Hunk and me both so we'd purposely start late to avoid them…” Lance shifted to sit forward a bit. “...But are you seriously trying to say I've been on your mind since back on Earth? _Really, Keith??_ ”

“Not to the same extent, obviously. I didn't know how reliable or goofy _or obscene_ you could be until we ended up in space together, but you asked when I noticed, so... there.”

Lance crossed his arms and leaned forward onto his knees, still above but now closer to eye level with Keith.

“You are _such an ass_...” he huffed with as much faux anger as he could, but Keith could see Lance was close to laughing out loud. “You acted like you didn't know me the night we rescued Shiro! But **I KNEW IT**!”

"Come on," Keith let his pitch rise a touch, running both hands over his face and behind his neck, “... I wasn’t going to say ‘oh, hey, the hot cargo pilot I used to watch after class. Can I get your name again?’...”

“That's EXACTLY what you should have said, instead of _‘who are you?_ ’ like I wasn't worth remembering, you dick! You would've spared us so many headaches,” Lance sat back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No way,” Keith replied calmly. “I was not about to let some guy I hadn't seen in almost a year distract me from helping Shiro.” The look on his face added ‘ _come on, man, you know me..._ ’

“Plus Garrison troops and Galra ships were on our backs in record time. We would have had the same number of headaches no matter what I said to you that night.”

“Okay, maybe. But you and I would’ve had way less drama if you had just been HONEST with me at some point...”

“Are you kidding?! I’m being honest with you right now and it’s the biggest drama I’ve had ALL DAY!”

Keith sat back, turning to face the latched door and furrowed his brow to keep from laughing.

“All quintant even _..._ ” Keith recalled a time or two when he saw Lance around campus, but quickly pretended to be doing something else when he got caught watching. He wondered if Lance felt the same flutter in his gut from that thought and it made Keith suddenly look back up to the command chair, right here at this moment.

Their eyes met, Lance abruptly turned away and stretched out his legs, inhaling audibly, failing to conceal a broad smile. Keith took that to mean _YES._ Lance laughed out loud.

“Hah, you are SUCH an ass, why do I even like you?”

“Maybe you don’t. But will you at least let me finish my sentence now?”

“What sentence?”

“I was trying to say you’ve actually been on my mind for a long time already and--”

“Ohh, that. But see, I'm still not sure if I belie--” Lance began and his thought was abruptly cut short when Keith got to his feet and in one stride was standing over him, both hands on the pilot’s chair at either of his waist. Keith leaned down close enough to discern the blue in Lance’s eyes despite the dim lighting, with a look that clearly read ‘ _should I shove something in your mouth to make you be quiet?’_

“...O-okay, fine, finish your sentence." Lance pretended to concede, but his smile showed that he might have considered himself winning now that Keith was this much closer.

“You…” Keith lowered his volume, “...have actually been on my mind for a long time already now and ever since we became paladins we both face a lot more stress and uncertainty than we did back on Earth. But in this whole bizarre, chaotic universe of things we can't predict or control, if there's one thing I am sure of right now… it's _this_.”

Lance held his breath; he considered whether to show he understood, or whether to push Keith to use words.

“It’s _what_?”

Keith closed the gap between them to seize Lance up in a brief but substantially deep kiss, then broke it to stand upright. One hand landed on Lance at the nape of his neck.

“... that I'm not indifferent. How about you?”

Lance slouched back against the chair with a comfortable sigh, like finally dropping an overweight suitcase inside the door and arriving home. He reached both hands forward to the back of Keith’s knees coaxing him a step closer, which required he tilt his head all the way back to see Keith’s face above him.

“Coincidentally I'm not indifferent to you either. And -- news flash -- the rest of the ship already knows about our _lack of indifference_. Even the mice.”

“It's fine if they all know. It's not like I was hiding anything...”

Keith shrugged and Lance gave him a deliberately deadpan look.

“I just don't think our off duty activities are relevant to team conversations, alright?”

The silent reply Lance gave was not a pout, but had approximately the same effect on Keith, who sighed and spoke a third time.

“Alright, fine, so the next time someone makes a joke about your dick, I’ll speak up! Is that what you want??”

Keith’s voice was so determined, Lance blinked up at him wide-eyed. They both broke into a fit of laughter. _“YES! I DARE YOU! Ahhh hahaha Shiro will love that” -- “I’ll say ‘Pidge, you’re wrong, Lance has a magnificent cock and I'm making sure it gets attention...” -- “PFFT-hahahahaaa--keep talking like that while we’re locked in here and we’re gonna have a problem” -- “We’ll have something, but are you sure ‘problem’ is the word for it?”_

Their hoopla was interrupted when Lance sneezed, then shivered roughly with a sniffle.

“Whew, I should've brought more towels, heh.”

“It'll get too cold to be here without your flight suit. We have to get out of here...” Keith reached back to one of the controls and tried to connect with the Red Lion, but still no reaction.

“I’m fine. It's not that cold yet and I’m sure your lion will let us out eventually, heh heh...” Lance wrapped the robe tighter around himself and crossed his arms.

“Lance, seriously… What did Red tell you to do?”

“I would just tell you, if I could, but I’m... not sure how to put it into words,” Lance shook his head, “The _feeling_ I got from it was really good. Like reeeeaaally good. But the _action_ was all wrong, and kinda… grotesque, so I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of metaphor…”

Lance looked Keith directly in the eyes, possibly assessing something. “...But then again, we know Red can read all your bio-stats, so if the lion says… you need... that... then I…”

That sentence trailed off unfinished, but it was obvious the thought still continued in Lance’s mind. Then a bright grin lit up on his face, showing he had stumbled onto a revelation.

Keith watched, confused, “...Then you what?”

“OHHH! Oh snap, I think I get it! Okay, I’m good at that too, but…” Distracted, Lance jumped up and walked behind the chair to look at the floor, then over to a different wall of the cockpit, then back to the controls inspecting the area.

“But we still can't do anything in here. I'll do it after we get out.”

“Do WHAT? What if she won't let us out of here until you do it??”

“No, what I saw in my mind, we weren’t in here either, but...” Lance turned back, his expression completely confident now, and slapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Oh hey! You know what else-- I bet she's not ignoring us right now. Red might’ve just hit mandatory power save!”

Keith blinked back at him, “No way. Red always tells me before our power gets that low and it’s never happened outside of a really hard battle...”

But as soon as he finished speaking those words, Keith recalled that they had been out on an intensive mission including a few hours of evasion and battle. He also remembered the last thing the Red Lion said to him: communicating with Lance drained more energy than expected. _Maybe he’s right…_ Keith’s thoughts were interrupted when his teammate shivered again.

“Well, we can’t even check power levels right now. If the levels crashed last time she said anything then we probably have an hour or more before she’ll reboot. For now, let’s do this…”

Lance looked up to see that “this” apparently meant the Red Paladin quickly removing all armor and unzipping his flight suit. The seam opened and his skin was rosy and warm from being sealed up, but still so pale in contrast to the black technical fabric.

With a little effort, Lance was nonchalant about his teammate’s figure. He kept his eyes up on the shoulders and back, but all of Keith’s skin made him think of the smooth cream on top of a cappuccino. He cleared his throat.

“Um, Keith, are you-- well, _I know_ you're hot, but--”

“Yeah, I’ve been holding extra heat the whole time since we docked, so you can have some.”

Lance opened his mouth to make a joke about ‘getting some’ from Keith, but then vetoed every combination of those words that came to mind.

Just as if they were in the locker room, Keith casually peeled himself bare and stepped out, same as heading to the shower. Lance felt his mouth water wanting to say something, but there was no time to form a comment-- Keith crossed the small space to take Lance by the wrists, opening his arms and the robe.

Reflexively, Lance stepped back against the wall behind the command chair and Keith slipped inside the robe with him like a cat into a pile of fresh laundry: wordlessly, contentedly, not concerned about permission.

Lance squeaked, anticipating cold air on his skin, but Keith’s entire body was so warm all the way through -- it was _fantastic_. Lance wrapped both arms around him tightly and leaned back to pin himself between Keith and the wall with a great sigh.

“You like that?” Keith asked quietly as he relaxed into his teammate. From his nose tucked against Lance’s neck just below the ear, along every contour they fit together, down to his toes resting against the outside of Lance’s heels, and Keith appreciated that every inch of the other’s skin was cool and comforting. He noticed that Lance had undershorts, but nothing else under the robe to impede their contact.

Meanwhile Lance summoned all his willpower to resist squealing admiration for the source of all this warmth. He pulled himself together enough for a soft reply near Keith’s ear, “We make a good team.”

Wrapped up in the robe, leaning against back wall, they both felt content enough to doze off there and wait for Red to reboot and unlock everything. But it wasn’t long before a couple of distractions came up.

First, Keith had expected his body temperature to drop quickly once he was out of the flight suit but even after some time, pressed flush against Lance, he still felt overheated; in addition to some tension as if a spring was coiling up just below his belly. He took a deep breath in and smelled the same scent he'd noticed after breakfast that morning… some type of fruit that reminded him of coconut but at the same time was somehow citrusy; it was probably Altean, likely from something Lance had used in the shower, definitely not helping Keith cool off.

At the same time, Lance had expected his heart rate to relax once he felt warm and covered, but even after a while it was so loud he was embarrassed by it, pretty sure that Keith could feel his pulse restlessly pounding between them. He wondered if Keith also noticed he was feeling thicker, if not yet stiff behind the shorts, but Lance didn't want to release the warm embrace so he tried conversation as a decoy.

“Okay, so I have to be honest with you…” Lance began, “This morning when you told me to meet you in the hangar you looked so intense I didn’t know what to expect. I figured either we'd end up in a fight, shouting about something stupid, or we'd end up throwing our clothes in a pile, tangled up and possibly sticky again.”

“Heh, we can manage both.”

"Seriously! I’ll get the hang of your kinks eventually, heheheee...” Lance jabbed Keith in the side playfully and expected a counterattack, but was surprised when Keith neither scoffed nor laughed; he moved just enough to make eye contact.

“...Do you... do you really believe fighting with you turns me on??”

“Not actual, _serious_ fighting, but w-well, I meant like... _you know..._ ”

Lance realized that HE had thought about it a lot, but the two of them together hadn’t directly discussed the catalyst for their first encounter at all. He backpedaled a bit,

“Well, you DO kinda have a thing for authority, right? I’m just saying, like, you went from zero to sixty when I started bossing you around. Y-you nearly burned a hole through your shorts when I called you ‘cadet’ so...”

Keith looked away without meaning to, then immediately back with a small sound, maybe a laugh. “Yeah, I did, but calling it a kink makes it sound like anyone can give me orders. It... mmn, well... I only followed those orders because it was you.”

Lance felt his heart jump, but threw a skeptical sideways glance. He was NOT ready to believe that Keith of all people saw him as an authority figure. _No way, it HAD to be a kink. Otherwise..._ Keith sighed, taking the silence as a cue to explain.

“Alright, so for weeks now whenever you’d come to my room, you’d goof off and pretend you were staying over, right? You’d make cheesy jokes and flirt, but nothing ever happened, so that night I had already figured the magazines were as far as we'd go…

...But when you actually got serious enough to put your hands on me… _That’s what did it._ It had nothing to do with authority, you could’ve called me anything. I would’ve played along with any role you wanted as long as you didn’t back down.”

“Oh. ...Really?”

"Yes, really. I was... I got worked up because you finally _stepped across the line._ "

Lance felt a warmth spread deep in his chest… then the look on his face clearly said “ _Checkmate!_ ” Whether they agreed to call it a kink or not, Keith just admitted he WAS turned on when Lance took charge! _YES,_ Lance smiled brightly, deciding how to illustrate this very important point to Keith, but Keith replied first.

“And I let you call me ‘cadet’ because YOU were having fun. That's _YOUR thing_ , not mine.”

“What? Wait, no it’s not! ...I mean, it’s fun when you actually do what I say for a change but that's not a _thing_ for me, it was YOU who--!” Keith interrupted him again and Lance couldn’t keep from laughing with him.

“Don’t try to take it back now, _captain._ I already know.”

“Heh, Keith, man, cut it out--”

 _“Yes, sir._ ”

Lance swore quietly, trying to ignore the warmth of Keith pressing him into the wall, but his resolve was only mild. He pulled Keith toward him at the hips, and okay, maybe it was a little bit of _a thing_ for him.

Since sneaking into the robe, Keith had been keeping a portion of self control, but one particular dirty thought was on the edge of his tongue. The moment he felt Lance pull him closer, the scale tipped.

“Alright, time for me to be honest with you, too,” Keith started. “Before you got here, Red told me that she was going to trust you to help me with something... so I knew you'd get some kind of _assignment_ that had to do to me.”

“Aww, you two talk about me? I'm flattered.”

“You should be,” Keith leaned closer to Lance, and spoke quietly. “When you showed up here... I honestly thought Red was going to tell you to _fuck me_.”

A warmth rushed over Lance like when a tropical gulf wave pours over him from behind, but he was careful not to move except for a slow blink. Keeping his hands locked together, holding the robe shut around them at Keith’s lower back, he consciously held eye contact for another breath, even though his face felt so very flushed now.

“Your lion would tell me to do something like that?”

“Definitely. Red tells me point blank if she thinks I need to get myself off. No reason to be shy with you either.”

“Hah, I think the bossiest Blue ever gets is when she tells me I need a nap… Guess we haven't bonded on the same level as you two yet.”

“Or maybe your lion doesn’t think you’re as dirty as mine thinks I am…” Keith paused, his nose just grazing Lance over the cheek.

“Do you think what she told you, whatever you saw in your mind, could be some kind of metaphor for nailing me to a wall here in the cockpit?”

Outwardly Lance held perfectly still, but in his mind he flailed like a huge wave just knocked him off his board. _Holy shit this is the most direct Keith has ever been does he really want to oh what the how l do I save right now so I can reload if I mess this up??_ After considering a few ways he could respond, Lance didn't feel certain about any of them, but he had to speak so...

“No, I’m pretty sure now I understand what she wants me to do… and I don’t think it’s _that_.”

“...Hm.”

Lance felt nervous, possibly regretting his choice to be honest. Maybe should have said “ _it's worth a shot_ ” instead? _How would Keith have reacted differently?_ That uncertainty bloomed into panic as Keith took a deep breath in and stepped back, moving out of his teammate’s arms. A soft noise escaped Lance when his fingers were forced to separate, something like ‘ _wait_ ’ but not really a clear word. Keith locked eyes with him again as he took one more step back away.

“… Give me a minute, I'm... too hot standing like this…”

Keith wasn’t harsh, but Lance still felt so cold when the robe closed over his skin where Keith had been. He understood the subtext, ‘ _If you're not going to do anything, let me go cool down.'_ And he could relate, but...

“Keith,” the voice was smaller than any Lance had used since entering the cockpit. “... I wanna be honest with you about something else too...”

He nodded, Lance spoke up louder when he continued.

“Remember what all we did the night you called me ‘captain’? ...Well... just so you know that’s actually the furthest I’ve gone. With anyone.”

“Seriously…? You--” after a breath, Keith blinked back. “Huh… You sure _talk_ like you get a lot of action... and you hit on every living thing. I guess somehow I had the idea you scored all the time.”

“I DO score all the time! Or I did back on Earth, I mean… y-you know I'm not timid, right? I have a solid repertoire even without _that particular experience._ I always get good reviews from girls and guys, and...”

“Yeah, I didn’t mean it like--” Keith added, maybe just to reassure his flustered teammate. “I know you’re talented.”

Lance leaned back against the wall with a smirk. “But those were usually just hookups, right? Just someone I met at a party or off campus or whatever. It was safer not to get too invested in any... And everyone is satisfied after what I usually do, sooo…”

Lance pulled his robe tighter and crossed his arms again with a shrug, leaving the rest of that thought to be inferred.

After a moment, Keith picked up where it had left off, his voice noticeably more heated.

“Alright, so... does that mean you're not comfortable doing more? ...Or does it just mean you don't know what to do?”

Keith stepped close enough that Lance could tell, even without looking down, that he was ready to start something. “Should I stop thinking about you like that? Or is it time for me to take the lead?”

Lance ran the entire query through his mind another two more times while he parsed the options. Keith waited. After a deep breath Lance replied with another question, slowly, delicately spelled out.

“When you say ‘take the lead’... is that another way of saying… you would... _pitch?_ ”

Keith leaned close enough that Lance couldn't see his face, but instead felt the tickle of a quiet laugh against his neck.

“Not necessarily,” Keith answered. “Right now I’d rather _catch._ But if you're unsure about what to do, I can give the orders this time.”

“Like I did last time?”

The hair over Keith’s forehead brushed Lance’s face when he nodded; then he leaned back and his eyes met Lance's again clearly, with no confusion about intent. “ _I'm ready to give orders, if you're ready to take them._ ”

“… _Meaning you’ll tell me how you want to be fucked?_ ”

“Yes.”

Lance swallowed and unintentionally glanced down.

“O-okay, well, I know for sure you can be bossy, but we b--” But Keith interrupted, pressing Lance back into the wall with a kiss and the rest of that thought was gone.

Keith's first goal was getting himself back inside the robe, which was an easy fix, and once he had every inch of Lance in contact with his skin again, he was direct about seizing his lips to raise their temperature even more.

Lance felt his body react energetically to the contact, but a small voice in his mind was discontent. As if another wave crashed over him, this time his thoughts were so rough he couldn't swim.

Then Lance identified the uncertainty -- he feared exposing his immaturity, damaging the connection that took this long to find. But then he second guessed that concern: he and Keith have grown so close over the past few months, there’s probably not much that could shock either of them now. _And maybe Keith doesn't know what he's doing either._ And then Lance second guessed that second guess: Keith was beautifully nimble with a cock in his mouth, and he did not even pause before he said _fuck me, okay, this guy might not be new to whatever he’s suggesting_.

In the mess of ideas in Lance’s mind, one thing was clear: he wanted more than just to release tension. Abruptly brought back out of his thoughts by the grip around him, Lance broke the kiss. Catching his breath, he took another kiss back before he tried to speak.

“Wait, _okay_ , um…”

“Wait how??” Keith replied with a touch of playfulness, “I haven’t told you to do anything yet.”

“I know, but, um-- first, c-can we talk about how much experience YOU have with this?”

Immediately after blurting it out Lance felt better, despite finding Keith's reaction difficult to read: not shy, not at all ashamed, but Keith definitely paused. Then he inhaled and his hands ended up behind Lance's neck, moving from his hair to his shoulders.

“Sure, we can talk,” unconsciously running his tongue over his lips, he replied, “What do you want to know?”

“I guess…” The anxious wave ebbed and Lance composed a question. “How did you find out you liked to catch? ...I mean, you don't seem nervous at all, so I'm thinking… you've done this before?”

Keith didn’t intend to hide anything, but he glanced down and a subtle smile slowly grew; he realized this conversation was going make him feel _really dirty_. Lance didn't understand the pause at that moment, but after a beat Keith replied.

“Yeah, I found what does it for me a long time ago… and you’re equipped just right for it.”

“Well, you know I’m down for whatever will make you sing _..._ ” came the enthusiastic reply, and Lance nuzzled against his neck. Keith found it an amusing blend of trying-to-be a bad boy but still pure and safe; he tightened his lips to prevent actually laughing at Lance, who then continued.

“...So ‘a long time ago’ means when?”

“Do we really need to get into specifics?!” Keith attempted to sound indignant but devolved into a chuckle, which hit Lance like a high level charm spell.

“Yes, I wanna know ALL the specifics! I mean, okay, I get why it feels good, but honestly I’d be kinda scared to let anything enter through my exit… When did you first actually go there? What convinced you to try that?”

Keith focused his eyes down toward the ridge where the wall met the floor of the cockpit. He was deciding how much detail to give, but that pause made Lance impatient enough to speak up again.

“Is this a ‘one time at band camp’ story? Or like, did you hook up with somebody back at the Garrison, or ...what?”

Keith took a deep breath in, then locked eyes with Lance.

“It had nothing to do with a hook up... I was fourteen the first time I actually reached it. I probably first noticed the craving in seventh grade, but it wasn’t until after I saw some videos I tried using my fingers.”

“H-holy crow _…_ ”

“Exactly. Once I found the right spot, it completely blew my mind. And, yes, that was a LONG time ago.”

“Wow… ...okay, **_wow_ ** \-- Did you use anything else? Did you have, like, a hidden box of toys in your room??”

“No way! I-- I didn’t own anything made for that, I just...” The volume of Keith's voice decreased as much as the peachy-rose color in his face increased. “...I mostly used everyday things... so there wouldn't be trouble if anyone ever found them around.”

“Everyday things **_such as…?_ ** ” Lance pulled Keith in tighter around the waist and bending his knees slid a few inches down the wall to look up at him. “You know I'm not gonna let this go without answers, don't you? _You know me, right??_ ”

Keith felt weak for that mischievous, naughty smile; restraint was depleting quickly and he leaned his weight into his teammate. “Lance, I answered the question, why are we still talking about this?”

“You said we could talk...” Lance answered, sweetly, definitely teasing. “And… it’s really hot. I never guessed you were secretly so _raunchy_.”

A shiver hit Keith at the base of his spine, the memory of how he let go spilling onto the Red Lion’s command chair came to mind, and his eyes shut briefly. That chair was just a few feet behind where they stood, and _NO actually let's not bring that up right now_. Lance would probably love to hear the story, but Keith was shoring himself up to ignore how vulnerable he felt.

Lance’s patience didn't last long enough for Keith to sort out those thoughts.

“Did you ever hit it with, like, a hot dog? Or a bratwurst is a bigger I guess. Which would work better?”

Keith countered with a look of disbelief so strong Lance started giggling and tallied that as another point for himself. Keith sighed. Perhaps the way to stop Lance from teasing him was to stop reacting to it; if only Keith had the resolve do that.

“You joke about sausages a lot but... they aren’t rigid enough for what we’re talking about.”

“Come on, Keith, obviously they’d be FROZEN when you use them. You're trying to throw me off, but I'd bet you HAVE tried them, haven't you?”

Keith rested his forehead on Lance’s shoulder, holding back laughter, still wound up. Lance undoubtedly loved taunting his teammate like this and Keith probably didn’t hate it, but his voice held so much _tension_ as he replied.

“O-okay, I’m sure somewhere someone’s tried that, but it’s not… I wo-- mmmn. ...I’ve never done anything like that with a hot dog.”

“Well, I’ve never done anything like that AT ALL, so I'm just tossing out ideas here. I knew a girl once who used the back end of an electric toothbrush, did you ever try that? Or how about one of those toy karaoke mics? You know with the spr--”

“ _OHMYGOD LANCE,_ A-Alright...” as Keith stopped snickering, he took a deep, calming breath in and then out before he explained.

“When I first wanted something to reach deeper than my fingers, I grabbed a permanent marker. Which was risking a pretty humiliating trip to the hospital, so don't ever try that, understand?”

“N-noted.”

“But I was a desperate mess and that hit the spot really well at first, so… yeah.”

“...Interesting,” Lance paused just enough to imagine Keith frantically pleasing himself to the point that he’d reach over to the desk. “… but later you found something better...?”

“...Yeah, I…” _I cannot believe I'm saying this out loud…_ “I used... a hairbrush with a nice sized handle. I didn’t have to worry about losing it, so I tried a lot more.”

Lance tensed up all over, his fingers flexing into Keith just above the hips. His previously teasing and sweet voice fell to husky.

“ _Keith_ ... _you are dirty._ ”

“ _Yeah. I know._ ”

“ _Keep talking_ … did you use that brush in your dorm? Did your roommates ever catch you?”

Keith closed his eyes again. “No. By the time I got to Galaxy Garrison, most times I used a cucumber from th--.”

Lance gasped loudly, startling Keith who apparently did not expect that reaction.

“A _CUCUMBER_?! Are you-- What! You won’t even notice me!!”

“What? **_NO_ ** **,** **_not like--_ ** ” Keith sighed, eyes widening, face heating up quickly. He gestured with both hands. “I-I'm talking about the ones for sunomono-- they're like _this_ big. _Calm down._ ” Both hands reached back to Lance,

“Hmmm…… Don't act like that's obvious. I remember seeing some pretty intimidating cucumbers at stores back home,” Lance pouted but only briefly. “And where did you hide the lubricant?”

“I didn't hide it.”

Keith concluded as if that left no further questions.

Lance stared silently, steadfast until Keith spoke up again.

“Now you're just being nosy.”

“Yeah, but,” Lance almost whispered by contrast to how loud he had been a few moments ago. “You rarely ever talk about yourself and… I _really_ like hearing you talk about this.”

Keith swallowed, then stood up just a little straighter, at this point feeling so dirty that Lance could see it in his slightly furrowed brows; he might not have been able to realize how much Lance loved this look on him.

“Alright. I used a hair oil, so it was a normal looking bottle and I kept it with the rest of my shower stuff.” Keith let his hands move roughly down to Lance’s elbows as he spoke.

“I never risked doing anything in my room as long as I had roommates. I'd hide what I needed in a washcloth and take everything to the hall showers. That was usually a safe bet. The running water was pretty loud, but a few times someone in another shower might have realized what was going on. There were a few times I... didn't keep my voice down.”

Lance imagined that scene. And after a moment his smile stretched into a hilarious grin.

“I wish I could’ve seen that. Did anybody ask you about the vegetables in the trash??”

Keith keeled forward, probably aiming to hide his face against his teammate’s shoulder again, but Lance was not letting that happen -- _“Someone DID, didn’t they?!”_ \-- The two exploded into riotous laughter. _“N-_ ** _NO_** _, no one asked ME, why would anyone think they were mine?!” -- “Aaahh Keith, if I saw cucumbers in the dorm trash after some guy took a shower, I’d get suspicious” -- “WHAT?! No I didn’t just-- agh, goddamnit, Lance, hahaha, afterward I always sliced it up and threw it away with leftover tomatoes. It just looked like I was picking them out of the cafeteria salads.” -- “oooh ho, glad you thought that through” -- “And don’t act like I was the only one making noise in the showers! We regularly heard buzzing in there that was NOT an electric shaver.” -- “AAH doesn’t matter though,_ **_YOU_ ** _are still the dirtiest guy I know, hehee…” ..._

Eventually their laughter subsided, Keith’s fingers dug into his teammate’s arms just above the elbows.

Lance felt excessively warm from laughing and somehow secure with Keith held close against him; the cockpit was probably pretty cold by now but he didn't feel it and he didn’t bother keeping the robe closed anymore. Standing upright again, no longer leaning on the wall, Lance widened his stance by just a bit to look his teammate straight in the eyes.

“Keith. Tell me what to do.”

For a moment, Keith appreciated that particular shade of blue, even in the dimly lighted space, and his brow softened a touch.

“...Do you have any conditioner, like for your hair?”

“Ah, I do, but... this Altean conditioner comes in a gel like toothpaste. It gets slick when you add water.”

“Which we don’t have in here.” Keith took a step away and knelt on the floor near the basket. He looked through the collection of bottles Lance took to shower everyday.

“Lance, what IS all this stuff?”

“Well…” he lowered himself to tap each bottle as he explained. “This is an exfoliating body wash. This is a face cleanser, an astringent, a basic toner. Then this is a moisturizer, and this serum is for just around the eyes and forehead, and this cream dries into a mask that peels off…”

Most of those words floated over Keith’s head without pause, but his attention went to a dainty bottle with the same coconut-citrus smell from before. The bottle was slightly greasy to touch and Keith pumped out a few drops onto his finger -- it was full of a smooth, buttery oil with the fragrance that Keith wanted to label ‘Bathrobed!Lance’.

“Whoa, man, that's a really rich moisturizer so you use need like HALF that much… just a drop or two on your face after the toner and--”

“Is it like coconut oil? Is it edible?” Keith interrupted, lifting one finger about to taste it.

“Ummm, I think it’s fruit based, but,” Lance intercepted that hand, intertwining their fingers together to show his point, “this stuff is super slippery and a small amount lasts for a REALLY long time. Good for skin, probably not easy to digest.”

Placing the moisturizer on the floor next to the basket, Keith might have seemed disappointed for just a beat. Then suddenly reached both hands into the robe and down behind the waistband of the shorts, eliciting a short gasp from Lance.

“Fine. But if it's not edible then get on your knees. Now. Before I cover you with it.”

“Yea-- _yes, sir._ ”

“I never said you had to call me ‘sir’. That's your thing, not mine...” Keith smiled, a silent laugh that made his teammate almost too weak to move, before he possessively took hold, fitting as much of Lance into his mouth as he could.

Lance was expecting it, he watched it coming, yet he still collapsed forward with a moan, raking his fingers over Keith’s back without getting hold. He had already experienced Keith’s mouth twice before now, but this side of the Red Paladin still left Lance unable to maintain any cool.

He thought that was especially weird because he received this type of attention almost every time he shared a drink or offered a smooth compliment back on Earth; but he also accepted none of those encounters were like time spent with Keith. And though Lance was physically positioned above, but didn’t feel dominant one bit right now.

Somehow Keith could submit even while pulling obscene sounds out of him. He let Lance SEEM to be in charge but maintained hidden command over every inch of his target’s body. Lance wriggled trying to keep himself upright under the advance, trying to figure out _when the fuck did he become such a pornstar?_

A tight pinch in his low abdomen startled Lance, and with both hands he bluntly pushed Keith away. Lance was embarrassed that he reacted with such drama, but Keith’s face showed he understood why that had to stop.

Without words, Keith picked up the bottle of oil again, spreading more into his own hands and then onto the hands of his teammate. Once there was enough, Keith poured a bit more, and then even more after that, at which point Lance silently cringed, _wow, he has NO idea how rich this oil is… it’ll take forever to wash this much off_. It dripped onto the floor, but Keith didn't seem to care and once the oil warmed to match their body temperature, Lance put aside any concerns about the mess they were starting.

For this, Keith sat on the floor, his feet out on both sides of Lance, who was still on his knees; it might have looked as if he were about to start a manicure. But Lance felt his heartbeat increase as he slowly understood.

Keith curled one hand into a fist, tight enough that a bit of oil on his palm dripped out, then he push it over Lance’s forefinger, squeezing and directing Lance’s fingertip to rub against the lines inside the top of his palm. After a few strokes he added another finger, then a third. After that Keith let his fist unfurl to grip Lance by the very tip and push roughly down his shaft to the base. Lance swallowed hard; his shoulders moved as his breathing deepened and Keith spread even more oil along his length. At that moment he felt equal parts thrilled, hungry, and nervous all over, but he had no trouble understanding his orders.

After Keith let go, that hand moved toward the floor on the opposite side of his body but Lance quickly intercepted it, holding eye contact. Keith guessed he had been stopped from turning over because Lance wanted to be able to see his face... so he blinked back, awaiting some other clue.

Lance offered a touch of his lips on Keith's jaw, and then another as he moved toward the neck, but he offered no suggestions for a position, so Keith paged through options in his mind:

He lingered the longest on a mental image of the Blue Paladin undressed, on his back, thick, swollen cock standing at attention, and Keith had very a clear picture of himself climbing aboard. It probably wasn’t the first time he’d thought about that. But for now he decided he wanted more _impact_ . Right now he wanted to feel Lance thrust in a way that riding wouldn't deliver. _Obviously I like his face too but for a least a week I've been wanting about it rough and from behind, so how do we both get what we want here??_

Like a bolt of lightning, another image came to his mind-- maybe of something he had seen in one of the comics under his bed. Lance had been lulled into a delicate trance by the hands around him, but still noticed as if waking up when Keith’s eyes brightened.

Keith sat up with his knees bent, feet flat on the floor, then reached one hand under his own right leg to grip Lance around the shaft and pull him close. Different from just a pleasant handling, this grip ordered him to _come here_ and Keith’s arm wrapped under his own thigh as he guided Lance closer.

As if into a tai chi pose, Keith shifted fluidly and Lance mirrored his precision; a sweet side effect of this almost meditative focus was that Lance didn’t feel as nervous as before. Keith leaned all the way back to rest his shoulders on the floor, arching his spine up off the floor to raise his hips upward and Lance thought of a yoga bridge pose.

Lance was elated, he wanted to crawl on top of his teammate, to lean over and put his lips on the smooth chest and neck below him; but Keith didn’t yield to let him. To the contrary, Keith’s legs pressed back to block Lance leaning any closer; his shins rested on Lance’s shoulders like a pair of suspenders. Instinctively complementing the motion, Lance took hold of Keith by the hips, pulling him up onto his lap, and they _met_.

Visible from here was his teammate’s flushed face tilted back, almost upside down, revealing his neck and fanning his hair outward to the floor. Not only that, but from this position Lance could notice so many new details to which he hadn't been this close before.

Lance likely never expected to be hugging the back of Keith’s legs to his chest with feet dangling behind him like a trapeze artist, but here he was and his heart was racing. Smooth, pale skin along the thighs, varying textures where the legs joined the torso, the abdomen stretched taut as Keith arched back. Lance found every inch beautiful like a classical sculpture, but much more humid and slippery than anything in art history class. He never added any of those to his spank bank, but THIS he could work with.

Even so Lance was distracted searching through his vocabulary-- _what position is this? It’s like a ‘wheelbarrow’ but kneeling? Inverted? Maybe we still call it ‘bridge’ even if his feet aren’t on the floor? I saw something like this in a video, did they call it ‘caramel’ position? What does that even mean-- oh but I can pull him up onto me the same time I--_

Keith interrupted those thoughts when his hips rocked upward, thighs clenched and quads became stiff against Lance as a reminder on what to focus. From here Keith’s hands could only reach Lance at the thighs and lower abdomen, and he pawed at them briefly before giving up and digging both hands into his own hair, covering his face with his arms. Keith was all of out of patience: an illustration of tension needing release.

That was the exact moment Lance silently declared that it was no longer ‘a cool idea to maybe try’, but that he absolutely WOULD get a camera somehow. So as Lance started in with one finger, he looked over the creamy figure below while in his mind composing detailed shots to take later.

Once his second finger fit, he reached deeper, massaging upward and he hit something that produced a surreal sound from Keith -- the voice slid from a shout to a hiss then cut out like a whistling firework, but without explosion. _Whoa okay that is the spot._

Lance expected the target to feel different against his fingertips; he pried deeper still, careful of his fingernails, but rubbed harder over a wider area trying to identify exactly what inside made Keith cry out like that.

That unintentionally shot Keith straight to his highest notes and he scratched at Lance to signal _be gentler right there._ Lance was, completely by accident, mimicking the action of a toy Keith had wondered about but never tried before. At first it was interesting and then suddenly, all at once, it was too much. Keith couldn’t hold back a whining noise that made Lance twitch _oh wow maybe if--_

Losing his breath, Keith felt his voice disappear completely, then he lashed out with one foot, swinging in to land his heel against Lance square between the shoulder blades.

“ **OW-- H-HEY** **YOU** ” Lance immediately stopped rubbing and coughed out a chuckle, but held those fingers still in place, reaching with his other hand to the ankle of the foot that kicked him.

Keith gasped and his voice broke nearly into a sob, but he regained control. “ _Aaah_ , agh-- _I-I_ said **stop**.”

“Sorry…” Lance touched his nose and lips against the leg, like a soft kiss as he guided it back over his shoulder. “...No wait, y-you did NOT say stop! I wouldn't have ignored you, Keith, you didn't say anything!”

“I- _aah_ was… trying to say stop, _ah-oh fuck_ , I can't… I couldn’t breathe that was… _uuuah_...”

“Heh… Sounds like it was working.”

“That... is not… how I want to get... worked right now...” Keith, panting, covered his face with both hands.

Lance let his lips and tongue show he wanted to hear Keith’s voice go that high again. “Are you sure…?”

“Yes I’m sure... this time I don’t want to finish... by myself.”

With a deep breath in, Keith uncovered his face to put both elbows to the floor again, then pressed himself to bear down on his teammate’s fingers and into his lap; Lance inhaled sharply.

“Lance,” his voice still as tense but now heavier, “I know you can do thirty different things to make me yell, but I want ONE thing right now...” Keith took hold of himself, slowly, aggressively milking it, he kept his eyes locked on Lance who thought he sighed but the sound was much more like a low moan.

“Y-you’re giving the orders this time, right? So _tell me_ what you want.”

Lance heard something snap, audibly, when Keith inhaled before he spoke.

“I want you exactly _there_ , but don't tap that spot with your finger like a button... I want you to stuff me completely, pound me until I scream your name... Your ridiculous cock has been on my mind for WEEKS, Lance, I want you to stop teasing me and USE IT... I want you to _plow me_ until I can taste it in the back of my throat..."

Keith was still rambling unabashedly as Lance withdrew his fingers so he could firmly with both hands grip the pale hips in front of him. By the time he heard his own name again, Lance needed a moment’s pause, when the very tip of him just pressed against _Keith good lord he's begging this is a beautiful mess and all mine keep it together I have to take care of him but I can barely breathe don't let go not yet--_ His mind finally went silent when Lance felt himself sink in, slowly and shallow at first, then Keith bloomed around him and pulled him deeper than he'd experienced before; Lance put all effort into breathing fully and trying not to release.

On the other hand, Keith made no effort to be restrained, his breath became uninhibited. Both eyes opened when he heard Lance’s voice ring high and breathy, reminding him of the falsetto verse of a radio pop song. Each time he lost control and his own voice bent like that, Keith felt embarrassed, but when Lance did it, it was hypnotic and _actually Lance has the most fantastic voice oh god..._

At this point, Lance lacked the composure or leverage to target precisely, but he hugged tightly and pushed his thighs with intention, dragging himself roughly over the spot that made Keith gasp. Lance was always obscene when his hands were on Keith, but this onslaught of sensation just made him LOUD, without even the awareness to feel embarrassed. Until he reached his limit and let himself go.

Then Lance was suddenly REALLY aware. He opened his eyes to realize, first, that he had closed them tightly before he released, though he meant to watch Keith the entire time; second, that he’d planned to pull out so it'd be easier to clean up but well, that didn't happen; and third… he expected Keith’s voice to explode when he peaked, but he didn't hear anything… at all. He blinked down at his teammate, panting quietly until he withdrew and Keith finally made a soft gasp.

Blissful relief coursed through him, but Lance clambered out from behind Keith's legs, climbed atop and leaned closer to speak. Keith seems to be okay, but where was his voice?

“Keith, did you-- _Oh shit._ ”

“...... aaaah, yeah,” came a weak, quiet reply, but even in the dim lighting his soft smile was visible. Keith inhaled deeply, catching his breath as he wrapped one arm behind his neck to pull Lance down to lie against him; his other hand avoided Lance, instead wiping his own nose and cheek again.

Lance slid down, hiding his face against Keith’s neck right by his ear, with a low growl.

“ _Uuuggh,_ that is SO UNFAIR! Keith... you should’ve at least said something... before you... _ohmygod on your own face_ hah ha- _aahaha_...”

Keith stretched his legs out with a loud moan of relief, “... once you hit it, I- _aah,_ I literally could not breathe, let alone talk--”

“Which is YOUR fault for putting us in a hardcore position--”

“Which you nailed just fine.”

“You knew I had no experience! Why'd you demand some high level pose I’ve only seen, like, once in a video somewhere?”

“If you wanted it easy, why didn’t you just let me turn over??”

“It was my first time… I just wanted to be able to see your face.”

“It was my first time, too, I just picked the quickest way to get you where I wanted.”

“Wait, you…” Lance propped himself up on both elbows to look down. “Nuh-uh! No way, you… you knew _exactly_ what to do. Was that really...??”

Keith looked away briefly, “...First time with someone else, yeah... I've tried a lot and I know all about what I like, but... it was always... solo.”

 

“...Until now," Lance tapped one finger against Keith's sternum decisively. "From now on when you feel start feeling experimental, you let me know, okay?” Lance pulled himself in closer, “What’s that position called anyway?”

“I-I don't know! If I had planned it, I sure wouldn't have volunteered for you to hold my hips up above my face!”

They both laughed, loudly letting out any remaining tension as they relaxed sprawled across the cockpit floor; Keith let his shoulders lower just a bit with another deep sigh, one hand reaching to Lance at the back of the neck. “Anyway, you did fine with it. I have no regrets.”

“........” Lance remained quiet, with one arm wrapped over Keith.

That one statement was just a slice of proof, and he knew wanted more than just ‘fine’. Lance wanted a four star review and some advice how to get five stars next time. He wanted more confirmation that Keith was finally comfortable together, with him, and everything that included.

However Lance decided that if he asked directly, Keith would probably just say something rote and predictable. ‘ _Yes, of course you were very good’,_ and _‘No, I don’t regret it_ ’... Lance recalled that after their first encounter he specifically avoided being clingy around Keith, and then later Keith directly asked him for more. _Is this basically the same thing? Should I do nothing for a few days and if he wants to do it again, I'll know we're good?_

_For now, if I tell him how I feel, maybe I can gauge his response..._

“Keith,” Supporting himself up on his elbows, Lance began with a comfortable sigh. “That was…”

He paused to select the right words. Should he be casual and say ‘...a lot of fun’? Or should he be poetic and say ‘...life changing’?

Truth be told, he wanted to say that was a rough position on his quads and they should both add more flexibility to their training regimens. He wanted to say that was the most intense climax he’d ever reached, meaning Keith now held the records for First and Second on his private leaderboard. But none of that mattered when Keith interrupted.

“...That was Round One.”

“........wh-- _One_?”

Keith’s voice was worn down to nearly a whisper, “I want to try something else with you, if you’re up for it?”

“YES. I mean, well, give me a couple minutes, but,” Lance replied, his chest heating up inside. “You know, coincidentally, I actually don’t mind you bossing me around right now.”

Keith seemed to appreciate that response, and his hands moved to gently massage Lance as he recovered his energy. As promised, within a short time Lance was ready for more instructions, balanced on his hands and knees above a _very_ appreciative Keith, dotting his lips along his shoulders and chest.

“Stand up.”

Avoiding slick patches of oil spotting the floor now, they both got to their feet. Lance held Keith close with both arms as if to be sure he didn’t suddenly step away again, spreading light kisses along the neck, ears and temple. His partner noticed the extra clinging but didn’t protest.

“Listen,” Keith interrupted so quietly Lance had to stop and focus to hear the words. “I want you to bend me over the command chair and take me from behind. I want it _rough_ this time, even if I get really loud, keep up the pace, okay?” Keith's lips brushed Lance’s cheek near his ear. “I might yell like it hurts but don't stop. I want you to fuck me through it. Okay?”

That last ‘okay’ was likely the closest to ‘ _please_ ’ Lance ever expected to hear from Keith. With no delay Lance pushed him to the side of the pilot’s chair, in part because he worried his knees might give out if Keith kept talking _this is not just an incident I think he’s all the way dirty underneath it's beautiful_. And after a brief distraction during which Lance likened Keith’s bottom to an ice cream sundae, he was back on task.

This position, standing as Keith gripped the opposite side of the command chair, had the exact opposite effect on their voices. Keith was louder than before and Lance unintentionally stayed low and husky. The more pressure Lance added from behind, the less Keith could hold back the sounds. Once he established a rhythm, Keith was completely unable to contain his voice, vocal enough that Lance worried about seriously injuring him.

The acoustics of the cockpit gripped the sound on every surface, so without echo or distortion, Lance could hear every grunt, moan and yell and then his concerns burned off. Something clicked in his mind, perhaps on a primal level. Lance slid one hand up along the spine with enough pressure to bend Keith just a bit further forward. His other hand reached around and made sure to grip tightly while holding Keith in place. He was able to target _precisely_ this way, and he adjusted his angle, his weight, and by rushing in, then slowing just bit each time he dragged back out over the spot that made Keith break down.

“ _How is it, huh?_ ” Lance was barely audible, his voice low and his words divided by gasps before each thrust, “ _Is that good?_ _...You like that?_ ”

“ _Oh g-- ye-- ugh, YES th-- that’s it--_ ” Keith’s voice was equally divided, but at least twice as loud as Lance, and punctuated by every impact. “ _That's it-- right-- right there--_ ”

“ _… Let me hear you…_ ” Lance reached forward, slipping his fingers into Keith’s hair and tugged, lightly at first, until he heard the sweet upturn in his partner’s moan and felt it shoot through his pelvis. Then he tugged more, still pounding as Keith arched under him, his neck tilting back.

“ _...Is this... what you want? ...huh, Keith?_ ”

Keith pursed his lips tightly, trying to keep quiet, though Lance increased both pressure and pace enough that he didn’t hold out long. “ _a-- hah-harder y-- yes agh--_ ”

Lance rose to that challenge immediately, exactly as Keith wanted, though he knew he would overload soon.

_“Like that? … Keith, tell me… who’s giving it to you... just how you like, huh? ...Let me hear you say my name…”_

Keith bucked suddenly, tucking his chin to his chest and arching his back toward Lance, whose hand fell out of his hair so he could wrap both arms around his desperate teammate.

“ _Aagh-- ah-I-- I’m so close-- ohsh--_ ” Keith’s voice cracked as though he might break into tears; as requested Lance kept his pace all the way through. Lance was tense, ready and annoyed at Keith for stubbornly stumbling through so many words and sounds that were NOT his name, but when it finally came, all was forgiven.

Keith shouted his name, and extended it, twisted it around his tongue repeating it at least five more times, peppered with decreasing cries until finally he was whispering again. Lance released at some point during Keith's descent, pleased that he held out, but certain the best part was hearing the voice of his teammate fade out like that; Lance was satisfied in a whole new way.

After Keith spilled onto the command chair and floor, and silently wondered if this was becoming a habit now, he collapsed at the knees resting both arms across the seat. Lance fell with him, then peeled himself off as gently as possible. Neither felt the need speak for a while.

A little later, it was unexpected but Lance stretched out on the floor and after some affection there was clearly enough interest on both sides. Round Three was was much quieter and a gentle, relaxed mood filled the space. Keith straddled him, gradually, intimately testing how far he could stretch while riding. It wasn’t very far; his hips and knees were pretty tight at this point. But they both enjoyed this arrangement, which allowed their lips to touch more…

And then, abruptly, the entire cockpit activated and all the lights came up.

Both took a moment to let their eyes adjust to the brightness, but they recognized the Lion’s start up sequence... in about 15 ticks, Red would be completely back online. The control panels each activated including the main display, with all screens showing the view of the hangar outside. Keith carefully slipped off to stand up.

And Lance panicked-- under the bright lighting, the cockpit floor was a disaster, _what is Red gonna say when she wakes up to this??_ After a beat, he felt the warm hum of the Red Lion’s energy wash over him but couldn't understand any of it.

“Yes… Alright, I'm on it…” Keith spoke aloud as he checked the displays. “...Okay… I'll just use my flight suit again,” Then he touched a panel at the controls to produce a new reading. “...10.1? Yes. ...Loading now. So looks like... wow, so you went from 22 down to three? … ...Well, yeah, after we docked.”

Lance tried to follow along with only half of the conversation, then asked, “Hey, um… Is Red mad at me?”

“No. But she's not talking to you for a while. Probably should let power levels charge above 25% to be safe,” Keith replied while keeping his eyes on the displays as if nothing were out of the ordinary here, which Lance found oddly sexy.

Keith was a serious fighter pilot running system diagnostics despite every inch of him being exposed. Not to mention his skin showed scratch marks and light bruising in conspicuous places, his figure was smeared with various fluids that were easy to identify with all the lights on… Lance had made a complete mess of the Red Paladin, and at this moment he sat, swinging like a pendulum between feeling proud of the mess and feeling embarrassed that he was so proud of it.

Keith chortled, looking over to Lance sitting on the floor, then smiled.

“Heh, no-- there’s no job left to do, Red. ...He already took care of what I needed.” Keith reached to pick up his flight suit, but then paused as the Lion apparently spoke again.

“...WORSE than two hours ago? How?? … ...No, I'm not argu-- ...wh-- get to WHAT exactly?!”

Lance almost spoke up in an attempt to explain, but stopped when he felt an intense energy rise similar to when the Red Lion gave him the assignment.

Meanwhile a sequence of vivid images played out like a waking dream through Keith’s mind: First he saw an image of Lance chasing him around the ship corridors. Then Lance tackled him, pinned him to a wall, and ripped all his clothing off, biting sharply at his neck and pulling at his hair. Once they were unclothed, with a pile of dirty fabric and loosely shed hairs on the floor, Lance scraped his nails along Keith’s bare skin, which broke it and he began peeling it off.

Strangely, although the image of Lance biting and ripping Keith’s skin open was rather gross, the feeling it gave him was warm and… _loving_. Under that layer, Keith started regenerating, and then Lance started licking the new skin layer, from the base of his neck, all the way down his spine, between his buttocks, the backs of his legs, to his ankles, feet and toes.

Finally, Lance threw a stack of towels into a pile in a corner, pushed Keith into it, then fell asleep on top of him.

When the energy subsided, Keith blinked over at Lance, still watching expectantly.

“Ohhh,” Keith’s voice grew louder as the realization showed in his face. “Red wants you to _groom me?_ ”

“Right?! I thought so too!” Lance got to his feet, crossing the space to stand within arm’s reach of Keith. “Your lion sure has a way with imagery. I mean, yeah, we are animals, but not THAT wild, heh..."

Keith leaned against the chair, tired, but laughing, “Alright, getting rid of old skin and hair, cleaning up and then sleep, means... it's time for a shower.”

Lance laughed along with him, stepping close enough to rest one hand on Keith's side.

“Yep. Now you know why I was like ‘uhhh, Red, we can’t do that in here...' Humans need water for this.” Lance paused for just a moment, making eye contact, perhaps assessing something else now, before he continued.

“...I mean, I love you, man, but I’m not gonna wash between your toes with my tongue right now, heh…”

There was a pause. Lance didn't want to look away, but just enough time passed during which Keith's eyes were barely wider than normal, his lips were still and he didn't move. Lance finally had to glance down at his feet, feeling the heat in his neck and a touch of panic, but he didn’t regret saying it.

Then Keith did move, with a short breath before he replied.

“Same. ...and if you try to comb my hair with your teeth right now, I'll probably kick your face.”

“So I won’t do that,” Lance inhaled sharply, ready to move on. “For now, we have to clean this up and get back inside the castle.”

Keith paused again. Then replied as though to something else, “Right, I’ve got this.”

Lance gasped with genuine surprise when Keith spread open his flight suit and dragged it over the chair to absorb everything on the seat. Once done with the chair, he spread it on the floor and mopped up almost all evidence of their encounter using the super absorbent technical fabric. One or two more passes and nothing would be left.

“Holy crow, I knew our flight suits could hold sweat, urine and blood, but…” Lance knelt to examine the high tech fabric at work. “...Huh, I would’ve thought semen was too viscous. And that oil too... It's crazy how much it just absorbed.”

“Yep. Works every time.”

Lance turned slowly to face him, “Keith, how many times have you--?”

“Let's leave that for another time...” Keith wadded up the flight suit like a dirty tablecloth, noting with gratitude the tropical plant-like fragrance of the oil overpowered the less savory substances. “Right now… I owe you.”

“Owe me what?”

“An explanation… I’m not as good at talking as you are, and it’s stupidly obvious... but... I owe it to you to put this into words.”

“Keith, I think your definition of ‘obvious’ is different from everyone else.”

Lance sat across the command chair again, taking Keith by the hands, silently guiding his teammate to lean in against him.

“No, I'm sure it's obvious to everyone else how important you are to me. You're the only one who acts like it's a mystery.” Keith kept his voice low and casual, but Lance could probably detect the hesitation.

“I mean, you showed up out of the blue one night and turned my entire life around. Because of you, I finally met people who helped validate everything I’d been struggling with alone. You brought me through that wormhole, where I became a paladin and teamed up with the best friends I’ve ever known…

Through all the weird stuff we've faced together, you've become so important in my life that ‘good friend’ just doesn't describe it anymore. It's obvious how much you mean to me..."

Keith turned slightly away and lightened his tone of voice, "On top of that, you’re tall, tan, and steaming hot, with soft hair and lips and hard _everything else_ … you’re amazing and you know it. You know I fell hard for you. Why would you need me to tell you that??”

“I don’t.” Lance interrupted and got to his feet, with a smile that caught Keith quite a bit off guard. Lance stood close enough that Keith needed to look up. He likely caught a glimpse of how vulnerable Keith really felt at that moment and, instinctively, he slipped his arms out of the sleeves and flipped the Altean bathrobe around to drape over Keith’s shoulders.

“I don't need to you tell me all the time, but maybe I’m like a phone battery, you know? Even the ones that stay charged a long time still get low if you don't ever plug them in.”

“Heh… So if I want to make sure you don’t look like you did at breakfast this morning, how often should I _plug you in_?”

Lance suppressed a laugh, then considered, “Mmm, once a week or so? That'd probably hold.”

“Once a week?! ... Tell me that's the MINIMUM.”

“Of course! There's no penalty for overpayment. But interest accrues daily, and there's a BIG penalty for early withdrawal.”

“Ugh, could you at least stick to one metaphor at a time?”

“Speaking of metaphors!” Lance reached to smack Keith square on the bottom. “Let's get going! I've got work to do!”

“Wh--" Keith sighed, taking a step toward the hatch. "Just a shower is fine, Lance. You don't have t--.”

“Oh yes I do have to. I'm gonna groom you _completely_.” He interrupted. “Keith, your Lion gave me ONE job, I'm not gonna bail on it now. Plus if I get on her good side, maybe she'll let me pilot sometime.”

“Lance, I… I love you, but right now I just want to go to sleep…”

Lance stepped just a bit closer, and Keith felt a little embarrassed; first at hearing himself say that aloud, but then for having waited so long. Lance wrapped an arm over his shoulders and pecked his cheek.

“Keith, no. You were already sweaty when I got here. Now you're sweaty, greasy, sticky and kinda crusty in some places… Red is right, you NEED a good grooming.”

Keith groaned, shuffling toward the door, but he made sure not to break contact with his teammate. Lance cheerfully detailed his plan as they walked.

“I'll do all the work, just relax… We'll start with a backrub with this exfoliating scrub I found, I'll wash your hair, then we can soak for a bit, use some skin cream _for its intended purpose, heh_. After I dry you off we’ll go back to my room for sleep. Trust me, you'll like it.”

Lance let his voice get softer and gently took his hand as he sensed Keith giving in to him. “Hm, maybe we’ll trim your nails too. When was the last time you had a manicure?”

Keith replied with an indefinite meh, maybe trying to hide that this spa idea was actually really appealing to him now. Then his feet froze in place at the threshold connecting the hangar to the rest of the ship and Lance quickly realized why they stopped.

“Well, I have my shorts at least… so you can wear the robe.”

“Perfect,” Keith replied dryly. “That way whoever sees us will know EXACTLY what you just did to me.”

“Pff--” Lance didn't expect that, broke into giggles leaning on the back of Keith's neck. “Mmmm, okay, I'll take my robe back but would you really rather put on that flight suit again?”

“Third option: you take your robe back, I just carry the suit, and we make a run for it.”

“Copy that, cadet. To the shower room by the bunks on the count of three--”

But as soon as Lance took the robe, Keith was already streaking through the corridors. They ran passed Pidge and Rover II in a hallway; Pidge didn't pay much mind to them, but noticed later that Rover II had captured video of them, as a good security bot would.

Once at the bath, Lance delivered a first class spa experience, exactly as promised and Keith quietly enjoyed every minute of the attention. By the time they were dry, fresh and entering Lance’s bunk, Keith could barely keep his eyes open. When they both landed on the mattress, Lance was thoroughly content, with hearts and stars floating through his head again.

And Hunk explained their absence at dinner; Keith had already told him he would need more time to recover after that mission. Coran inquired about sending him to the healing pods but Pidge proposed that, sappy as it sounded, all evidence indicates Keith would likely heal faster in Lance's arms. Everyone agreed to go with that theory.

Most importantly, to be sure they didn't inconvenience the rest of the team again, Keith and Lance BOTH set multiple alarms.

**Author's Note:**

> / These two will have a peaceful night and wake up the next morning ready to act normal... 
> 
> // However Pidge won't let that last, there's about to be a new "Normal" around the castle. Also, Hunk makes a dangerously effective accomplice. Facepalming might soon become the least of Shiro's worries.
> 
>    
> /// I really appreciate everyone who've given feedback and shared this fandom with me. Thanks for reading ☆ﾟ.*・


End file.
